Origin of the name

The Srikanteshwara Temple at Nanjangud is dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva, also called Sri Nanjundeshwara, "The God who drank poison" to save the earth. In Hindu mythology, the Gods and demons churned the ocean in search of the ambrosia. During this churning, poison emanated first, followed by ambrosia. To prevent the poison from spreading across the universe and to destroy it, Shiva came to the rescue and drank it up. His wife Parvati then held his throat tightly to prevent the poison from spreading to the rest of his body and killing him. Narada held his mouth so that he did not vomit it out. The poison remained in his throat, making it blue in colour. For this reason, Shiva is also called Neelakantha, or "the blue-throated one". Nanjanagud literally means "the place where Nanjundeshwara resides."

History

Nanjangud has been a major Shaiva centre for nearly a thousand years. It is the biggest temple in Karnataka. The original Nanjundeshwaraa temple is said to be of Ganga period (325 - 1000...Read More